This report, created by Dr. Christina Wainikka for KreaNord in 2011, is part of the OECD initiative, “SME Innovation and Management of Intellectual Assets in Selected Creative and Manufacturing Industries”. It conveys research on IPRs from the creative industries that came out as a result of the Nordic initiative. In addition to the results from the OECD, the following insights can be found in the Nordic version: “What purposes IPR could serve within the creative industries?”, “What could be protected – and how?”, and “Conclusions regarding who could/should do what in the field of IPRs”.Republished in 2015 following the end of KreaNord, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ initiative on cultural and creative industries (2008–2015).

The field of IPR is not just a matter for the national legislators. There are several layers of international agreements (such as TRIPs), international conventions, EU-directives and so on. The national legislators may claim that the frame work is so regulated that the possibilities to even investigate how to improve the situation for SMEs within the creative industries are miniscule.